Customers are frequently inundated with unsolicited marketing promotions and attempts to solicit responses regarding their preferences or opinions in the form of a survey. Marketers are constantly searching for new techniques and promotions for encouraging customers to respond to such marketing promotions and surveys. For example, marketers frequently reward a prospective customer for reviewing a marketing promotion or for responding to a survey. While a number of marketers have successfully encouraged customers to participate in such marketing efforts, many customers nonetheless ignore such marketing efforts in view of their busy schedules, and the overwhelming number of similar marketing promotions to which they are exposed.
Frequently, the marketer and the prospective customer meet in a face-to-face environment. Thus, the reward can be offered and accepted, and the marketing promotion or survey can be implemented, as part of the same transaction. Increasingly, however, marketers are utilizing techniques which do not depend on face-to-face interaction, such as promotions delivered by means of a telemarketer, or techniques which eliminate a live person entirely, for example, where the marketing promotion is delivered by (or solicits responses using) an interactive voice response unit (IVRU) or a stand-alone kiosk.
Although the elimination of a live person from many marketing promotions has undoubtedly reduced costs, there have been a number of negative implications as well. For example, the absence of a live person makes it more difficult for the marketer to efficiently reward the prospective customer for participating in the marketing effort. In addition, without the pressure of a live person to encourage customer participation, many people find it easier to decline to participate in the marketing promotion. Furthermore, without the presence of a live person, there is no guarantee that an unscrupulous user will not use the system repeatedly, for example, until a prize is awarded, or to influence the results of a survey. Finally, when a marketing promotion is delivered by an interactive voice response unit (IVRU) or a stand-alone kiosk, in exchange for a reward, there is no guarantee that the customer is even paying attention.
The problems and costs associated with current methods for encouraging participation in a marketing promotion are not limited to marketers. Even from the customer's point of view, conventional techniques are unsatisfactory. Many customers are frustrated from participating in marketing efforts because promotional rewards cannot be supplied instantly. Rather, customers are often required to wait while promotional rewards are sent to them, usually via mail. In fact, if the incentives associated with participation were offered at times when customer could instantly realize the benefits of their earned reward, customers would be more likely to participate.
As apparent from the above deficiencies with conventional attempts to encourage customer participation in marketing efforts, a need exists for a method and system that allows a marketer to more efficiently and effectively deliver marketing promotions and solicit responses from customers about preferences or opinions. A further need exists for a system that rewards customers at a time when the customer is likely to be receptive. Yet another need exists for a vending machine that effectively utilizes time spent by a customer waiting for a vending machine transaction to be completed.